The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Acclaimed local soprano Sarah Brailey explains why performing artists and presenters need help during the COVID-19 pandemic
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Sarah Brailey (below) is worried.
And with good reason.
Chances are good that you have seen the local soprano or heard her sing.
She is the artistic director of the Handel Aria Competition, which she herself won in 2015. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Brailey sing the aria “Will the Sun Forget to Streak” from Handel’s oratorio “Solomon,” with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra under conductor Julian Wachner, in the St. Paul Chapel in New York City.)
Brailey is a co-founder of and participant in the monthly free Just Bach concerts here. In addition, while pursuing graduate studies at the UW-Madison, she is a concert artist with a budding international career. For more about her, including a rave review from The New York Times and sample videos, go to: https://sarahbrailey.com
But right now the Wisconsin native is especially concerned about the lasting impact that the Coronavirus pandemic will have on her own career as well as on the careers of others like her and on the well-being of arts presenters.
Brailey (below, in photo by Miranda Loud) sent The Ear the following essay:
By Sarah Brailey
This is a scary time for everyone, but particularly for anyone who works as an independent contractor.
I am a freelance classical soprano based in Madison. I maintain a very active performing career, traveling all over the globe, and I am also a doctoral student at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
When COVID-19 hit the United States, presenting organizations on the east and west coasts started canceling concerts to comply with social distancing recommendations.
I initially thought I was lucky to be living in the middle of the country where our lesser population density might save us. Plus, I am a Teaching Assistant at the UW right now, so I will still be getting my stipend — although teaching virtual voice lessons will be its own special challenge!
But many of my colleagues are not so lucky and are facing bankruptcy. If the government doesn’t include independent contractors in its relief packages, a lot of people are going to be insolvent.
And I myself am not immune. As the seriousness of the situation became clear, all my concerts in the next two months soon disappeared one by one.
While not being able to perform is emotionally devastating, these cancellations are also financially devastating.
There exists a clause in every standard performance contract called “force majeure” (superior force), which is idiomatically referred to as, “an act of God.” This clause excuses a party from not honoring its contractual obligations that becomes impossible or impracticable, due to an event or effect that the parties could not have anticipated or controlled.
This can come in handy for a presenter if there is, say, a blizzard that necessitates the cancellation of a concert. (This happened to me a few seasons ago with the Boston Symphony.) If the presenter will not make any money on ticket sales, they are not then further injured by having to pay the musicians for the canceled concert. (Below, Brailey sings Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” with the Colorado Symphony.)
The ramifications of this pandemic are unprecedented. Every freelance musician I know is suddenly out of work. The current conventions put all of the upfront financial burden on the artists. We are paid in one lump sum at the end of a project. We do not get a fee for the countless hours of preparation.
We often book travel and lodging on our own dime, and are not reimbursed until the end of the gig. We pay for our own health insurance, and we cannot file for unemployment because our work is paid via IRS Form 1099 and not W2s. The abrupt work stoppage caused by this pandemic means insolvency – or even bankruptcy — for many artists. (Below, Brailey sings Handel’s “Messiah” at the famed Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City.)
Many institutions — and, unfortunately, many of the bigger players like The Metropolitan Opera — are invoking force majeure without much regard for how their artists are struggling.
My colleague, tenor Zach Finkelstein, is covering this in great detail on his blog The Middle Class Artist, as is Alex Ross, the prize-winning music critic for The New Yorker. Read his piece on force majeure here.
However, there are also thankfully some good stories to tell. The Bach Society of Minnesota reimbursed all my travel expenses and is paying 75 percent of my fee, as is the Lyra Baroque Orchestra.
I am helping Zach keep track of the organizations that are helping their artists in this time of need. (Read about them here. Madison Opera is on the list.)
The arts are not just cultural enrichment; they are an essential part of our economy. In 2017, the industry contributed $877.8 billion, or 4.5 percent, to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed over 5 million workers. We cannot afford to let this industry disappear. I fear that many individual artists and arts organizations will not recover from this. (Below, Brailey sings Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Magnificat” at the Bucknell Bach Festival.)
While we wait out this storm, I implore you to donate to a Madison arts organization. Here is a short list of recommendations along with some national relief funds for artists.
Local Arts Organizations
Tags: #ActofGod, #AlexRoss, #ArtisticDirector, #artsorganization, #ArtsPresenters, #BachFestival, #BachSocietyofMinnesota, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BigPlayer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #BucknellUniversity, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalMusician, #ColoradoSymphony, #ConcertArtist, #COVID-19, #CriticalAcclaim, #CulturalEnrichment, #DoctoralDegree, #EastCoast, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalGovernment, #ForceMajeure", #ForceW2, #Form1099, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GoodReason, #GraduateStudent, #GrossDomesticProduct, #Handel'sMessiah, #Handel'sSolomon, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HomeWebsite, #IndependentContractor, #InternalRevenueService, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulianWachner, #JustBach, #Knoxville:Summerof1915, #LumpSum, #LyraBaroqueOrchestra, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MusicCritic, #MusicLessons, #MusicReview, #NativeAmerican, #NewYork, #NewYorkCity, #OutofWork, #PopulationDensity, #Prize-Winning, #RaveReview, #SamuelBarber, #SarahBrailey, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SopranoSinger, #TeachingAssistant, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheMagnificat, #TheMet, #TheMiddleClassArtist, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #TicketSales, #timeofneed, #TravelExpenses, #TrinityChurch, #U.S.Government, #UnitedStates, #VocalMusic, #VoiceLessons, #WallSt., #WallStreet, #WestCoast, #ZachFinkelstein, abrupt, acclaim, act, Act of God, active, afford, Alex Ross, anticipate, aria, artist, Artistic director, Arts, arts organization, arts presenter, arts presenters, audience, Bach, Bach Society of Minnesota, bankrupt, bankruptcy, Barber, Baroque, Baroque music, big player, blizzard, blog, Book, booking, Boston Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bucknell, Bucknell University, budding, burden, cancellation, career, challenge, Chamber music, chances, chapel, choral music, Christian, church, Classical, Classical music, classicalmusic, clause, colleagues, Colorado, Colorado Symphony, comply, composer, Concert, concert artist, conductor, contract, contractor, contractual, control, conventions, coronavirus, country, coutnless, covering, cultural, cultural enrichment, detail, devastating, dime, disappear, doctoral, donate, donation, Early music, East Coast, economic, economy, effect, emotion, employ, emtoionally, end, enrichment, essay, essential, event, expenses, face, Facebook, famed, fear, federal government, fee, file, financial, force, force majeure, form, Form 1099, Form W2, forward, founder, free, freelance, freelancer, fund, GDP, George Frideric Handel, gig, globe, God, good, good reason, governent, graduate student, great, greater, gross domestic product, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, handy, help, home website, honor, hours, idiom, immune, impact, implore, impossible, impractical, independent, industry, injure, insolvency, insolvent, institution, Internal Revenue Service, international, IRS, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Julian Wachner, Just Bach, Knoxville, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, lasting, like, link, list, living, local, lodging, lucky, lump sum, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Opera, Madison Youth Choirs, Magnificat, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Messiah, Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota, money, month, Music, music critic, music lessons, music review, Musician, myself, national, native, necessitate, need, New York, New York City, obligation, opera, oratorio, Orchestra, organization, out of work, own, package, pandemic, participant, parties, party, pay, performer, performing, piece, population, population density, post, posting, preparation, presenter, project, ramifications, rave, rave review, reader, recommendation, recover, reimburse, relief, review, sales, sample, Samuel Barber, Sarah Brailey, scary, seriousness, share, sing, singer, Singing, situation, social distance, social distancing, Solomon, song, soprano, special, St. Paul, stipend, stoppage, storm, struggling, subscriber, suddenly, summer, sun, Superior, symphony, TA, tag, tax, teaching assistant, tenor, The Boston Globe, The Ear, the Met, The Middle Class Artist, The New York Times, The New Yorker, ticket, ticket sales, time, time of need, travel, travel expenses, Trinity Church, U.S., unemployment, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unprecedented, UW, UW-Madison, video, virtual, virus, vocal music, voice, voice lessons, wait, Wall St., Wall Street, Website, well-being, west coast, winner, Wisconsin, work, workers, worried, worry, YouTube, Zach Finkelstein
Classical music: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge sings a varied program with organ accompaniment this Wednesday night in Overture Hall
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The new season of the popular Overture Concert Organ series, sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra and curated by MSO organist Greg Zelek, begins this Wednesday night, Sept. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall.
All single tickets are $20. (A subscription to all four organ concerts is $63.)
The opening program features the world-famous Choir of Trinity College Cambridge (below), on tour from its home in the United Kingdom.
Adds Zelek:
“Our season opens with the amazing Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, named by Gramophone Magazine as one of the best choirs in the world.
“Conducted by the choir’s music director Stephen Layton (below top) and accompanied on the mighty Klais concert organ (below bottom), this 25-voice choir will present a program of music spanning many centuries that will display its beauty of tone and depth of feeling. These rich voices will make this varied program soar through Overture Hall and leave everyone in the audience breathless.”
Here are some sample reviews:
Virtuoso is the right word. I, for one, can’t immediately think of any more appropriate way of describing singing of such staggering accomplishment. – BBC Music Magazine
Sitting front and center at a recent Trinity Choir of Cambridge concert at Grace Cathedral was, sonically speaking, a heavenly experience. -The New York Times
Here is Wednesday night’s eclectic program:
William Byrd | Sing joyfully
William Byrd | O Lord, make thy servant, Elizabeth
Thomas Tallis | Salvator mundi
Henry Purcell | Thou knowest, Lord
Arvo Part | Bogoroditse Djévo
John Tavener | Mother of God, here I stand
Vasily Kalinnikov | Bogoroditse Djevo
Robert Parsons | Ave Maria
Eriks Esenvalds | The Heavens’ Flock (You can hear a different Esenvalds work, “Only in Sleep,” sung by the Trinity College Choir, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Morten Lauridsen | O magnum mysterium
Jaakko Mantyjarvi | Stuttgarter Psalmen
Herbert Howells | Take him, earth, for cherishing
Herbert Howells | Trinity St. Paul’s
For more information about the Overture Organ Series, detailed background about the Trinity College Choir and how to purchase tickets, call (608) 258-4141 or go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/overture-concert-organ-performances/ or https://madisonsymphony.org/event/organ-trinity-choir/
Tags: #ArvoPärt, #AveMaria, #BBCMusicMagazine, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CambridgeUniversity, #ChoirofTrinityCollegeCambridge, #ChoralDirector, #ChoralMusic, #ConcertOrgan, #DepthofFeeling, #EnglishComposer, #EriksEsenvalds, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GraceCathedral, #GramophoneMagazine, #GreatBritain, #GregZelek, #HenryPurcell, #HerbertHowells, #HomeWebsite, #JaakkoMantyvari, #JohnTavener, #KlaisOrgan, #KlaisOrgelbau, #LIturgicalMusic, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MortenLauridsen, #MotherofGod, #MusicDirector, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #OMagnumMysterium, #OrganMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #OvertureOrganSeries, #RobertParsons, #SacredMusic, #September11, #StephenLayton, #SubscriptionConcert, #SubscriptionTicket, #TheNewYorkTImes, #ThomasTallis, #TonalBeauty, #TrinityCollege, #UnitedKingdom, #VasilyKalinnikov, #VocalMusic, #Wednesdaynight, #WilliamByrd, #World-famous, #YouTubevideo, accomplishment, amazing, Arvo Part, audience, Ave Maria, BBC, BBC Music Magazine, beauty, best, blog, breathless, Cambridge University, cathedral, Catholic, centuries, Choir, Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, choral director, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, concert organ, curate, depth, depth of feeling, describe, detail, director, Earth, eclectic, England, English, Eriks Esenvalds, everyone, experience, Facebook, famous, feeling, flock, forward, God, grace, Grace Cathedral, Gramophone, Gramophone (magazine), Great Britain, Greg Zelek, heaven, heavenly, Henry Purcell, Herbert Howells, Home, information, Jaakko Mantyvari, John Tavener, Joy, joyful, like, link, liturgical, liturgical music, Lord, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Morten Lauridsen, Mother, Mother of God, Music, Music director, music review, new, New Music, night, O magnum mysterium, opening, organ, organ music, organist, Overture Center, Overture Concert Organ, Overture Hall, Overture Organ Series, performer, popular, post, posting, program, Protestant, psalm, reader, review, rich, Robert Parsons, sacred music, savior, Season, Sept. 11, September 11, series, servant, share, sing, singer, Singing, single, Sleep, soar, sonic, St. Paul, staggering, Stephen Layton, Stuttgart, subscriber, subscription, tag, The New York Times, Thomas Tallis, ticket, tonal beauty, tone, tour, Trinity College, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, Vasily Kalinnikov, video, virtuoso, vocal music, voices, Website, Wednesday, William Byrd, world, YouTube
Classical music: This Sunday brings three concerts of choral and orchestral music
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday brings three chances to hear choral and orchestral music.
On this Sunday morning, April 14, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., in the Atrium Auditorium (below in a photo by Zane Williams) the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, will host its spring All-Music Sunday. The public is invited to attend FREE of charge.
The performers are the Society Choir and Friends, a pickup orchestra, and vocal and instrumental soloists.
The program lasts about one hour and includes the Concerto for Two Trumpets by Antonio Vivaldi and the early Mass in G Major by Franz Schubert. (You can hear the Kyrie from the Schubert Mass in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
At 2:30 p.m., at Edgewood College in the St. Joseph Chapel (below, in a photo by Ann Boyer), 1000 Edgewood College Drive, the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra will give its spring concert.
Director Blake Walter (below) will conduct the performance.
Works to be performed are: the Overture to the opera Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven; St. Paul’s Suite for String Orchestra by Gustav Holst; and the Symphony No. 35, “Haffner,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Admission is $5 for general admission, free with those with an Edgewood College ID.
Here are some program notes provided by Edgewood College.
“The Overture to Fidelio — Beethoven’s only opera — is the first of four overtures composed for the opera, but is perhaps the least often performed.
“In 1904, Gustav Holst was appointed Music Director of St. Paul’s School for Girls in London, and wrote the Suite for the small string orchestra and based it on popular English folk songs.
“Mozart completed his Haffner Symphony in 1785 and dedicated it to his patron, Sigmund Haffner the Elder, a wealthy businessman in Vienna.”
Tags: #All-MusicSunday, #AntonioVivaldi, #AtriumAuditorium, #BlakeWalter, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassMusic, #ChamberOrchestra, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianMusic, #ChristianReligion, #EdgewoodChamberOrchestra, #EdgewoodCollege, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FranzSchubert, #GustavHolst, #HaffnerSymphony, #InstrumentalMusic, #InstrumentalPlayer, #LondonEngland, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MusicDirector, #OperaMusic, #OperaOverture, #OrchestralMusic, #ProgramNotes, #RomanCatholic, #RomanCatholicism, #St.JosephChapel, #St.Paul'sSchoolforGirls, #StringOrchestra, #ThePublic, #TrumpetConcerto, #ViennaAustria, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, #ZaneWilliams, All-Music Sunday, Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, Atrium Auditorium, attend, audience, Austria, Beethoven, Blake Walter, blog, brass music, businessman, Cello, chamber orchestra, chapel, Choir, choral music, Christian, Christian music, Christianity, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, director, Early music, Edgewood Chamber Orchestra, Edgewood College, English, Fidelio, First Unitarian Society of Madison, folk song, folk songs, folksong, forward, Franz Schubert, girl, Gustav Holst, Haffner, Haffner Symphony, ID, Jacob Stockinger, Kyrie, like, link, London, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, mass, movement, Mozart, Music, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, Overture, performer, popular, program notes, public, Roman Catholicism, share, soloist, spread, Spring, St. Joseph, St. Joseph Chapel, St. Paul, St. Paul's School for Girls, String Orchestra, Suite, symphony, tag, Trumpet, United States, Vienna, Viola, Violin, vocal, vocal music, wealth, wealthy, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, YouTube, Zane Williams
Classical music: This weekend, the Madison Symphony Orchestra spotlights three of its principal players in music by Prokofiev, Debussy and Vaughan Williams along with works by Schubert and Gershwin
7 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming weekend, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO, below in a photo by Peter Rodgers) will once again perform a program that highlights its principal artists as soloists.
The program for “Orchestral Brilliance: Three Virtuosi” begins with Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished.”
Then the featured artists appear: concertmaster Naha Greenholtz performs Sergei Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2 for Violin; principal clarinetist JJ Koh follows with Claude Debussy’s Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra; and principal tubist Joshua Biere concludes with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra. For more biographical information about the soloists, see below.
The program finishes with George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”
Performances will be held in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 10, at 2:30 p.m.
Details about tickets ($18-$93) are below.
“Our March concerts shine the spotlight on our own brilliant musicians that make up the Madison Symphony Orchestra,” says music director and conductor John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson). “It is important to me on the occasion of my 25th anniversary with the symphony to share this celebration in a special way with these artists, who make my musical life such a pleasure.”
Franz Schubert (below) began composing his “Unfinished Symphony” in 1822, but left the piece with only two movements despite living for six more years. For reasons that remain unclear, the score was shelved until 1860 when the owner finally realized he possessed a gem. He approached conductor Johann von Herbeck with assurances of a “treasure” on par “with any of Beethoven’s,” and Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony had its premiere in 1865.
The Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63, by Sergei Prokofiev (below) is more conventional than the composer’s early bold compositions. It starts off with a simple violin melody and recalls traditional Russian folk music. The graceful violin melody flows throughout the entire second movement, and the third movement’s theme has a taste of Spain, complete with the clacking of castanets. (You can hear David Oistrakh play the gorgeous and entrancing slow second movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Composed between December 1909 and January 1910, the Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra by Claude Debussy (below) was written as one of two test pieces for the clarinet examinations at the Paris Conservatory. The piece is described as dreamily slow at the start, followed by a duple meter section that moves the music along until the joyous final section.
The Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (below)
was written in 1953-54 to mark the 50th anniversary of the London Symphony Orchestra.
“An American in Paris” by George Gershwin (below) is one of the popular composer’s most well-known and most beloved compositions. Written in 1928, it evokes the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s. As Gershwin explains, the work’s purpose is to “portray the impressions of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city, listens to the various street noises, and absorbs the French atmosphere.”
ABOUT THE SOLOISTS
Naha Greenholtz (below, in a photo by Chris Hynes) is concertmaster of both the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Additional performance highlights include guest concertmaster appearances with the Oregon Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, National Ballet of Canada, Omaha Symphony and Memphis Symphony, among many others. Additionally, she performs frequently with the Cleveland Orchestra both domestically and abroad. Greenholtz has also held positions with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, joining the latter as Associate Concertmaster at age 21.
JJ Koh (below) joined the Madison Symphony Orchestra as principal clarinetist in 2016. In addition, he holds a position with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Prior to joining the MSO, Koh was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He is a founding member of the Arundo Donax Reed Quintet, and a winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. As principal clarinetist of KammerMahler, Koh participated in a world premiere recording project, which featured chamber versions of Gustav Mahler’s Fourth and Ninth Symphonies.
Joshua Biere (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) joined the Madison Symphony Orchestra as principal tubist in 2013. He also holds the principal tuba chair with the Kenosha Symphony and regularly performs with the new Chicago Composers Orchestra. Biere has also performed at the Grant Park Music Festival (Chicago), and with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. An established chamber musician, Biere is also a highly sought-after clinician and teacher, maintaining a studio of well over 35 tuba and euphonium students.
CONCERT AND TICKET DETAILS
The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert. One hour before each performance, maestro John DeMain will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience. It is free to ticketholders.
The MSO recommends concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations, and so they can experience the Prelude Discussion.
Program notes for the concerts are available online: http://bit.ly/mar2019programnotes
- Single Tickets are $18-$93 each and are on sale now at: http://madisonsymphony.org/orchestral through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141. Fees apply to online/phone sales.
- Groups of 10 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, visit, https://www.madisonsymphony.org/groups.
- Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $15 or $20 tickets. More information is at: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush
- Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
- Flex-ticket booklets of 10 vouchers for 18-19 symphony subscription concerts are available. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/flex
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Presenting sponsorship provided by the Kelly Family Foundation. Major funding provided by Madison Magazine, Louise and Ernest Borden, Scott and Janet Cabot, and Elaine and Nicholas Mischler. Additional funding provided by von Briesen & Roper, S.C., and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Tags: #AnAmericaninParis, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CalgaryPhilharmonic, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusician, #ChicagoComposersOrchestra, #ChicagoIllinois, #CivicOrchestraofChicago, #ClarinetConcerto, #ClaudeDebussy, #ClevelandOrchestra, #DavidOistrakh, #EuphoniumMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FischoffNationalChamberMusicCompetition, #FolkMelody, #FolkMusic, #FranzSchubert, #GrantParkChicago, #GrantParkMusicFestival, #GustavMahler, #JJKoh, #JohnDeMain, #JoshuaBiere, #KammerMahler, #KenoshaSymphony, #KenoshaWiscosnin, #LawFirm, #londonSymphonyOrchestra, #LouisianaPhilharmonicOrchestra, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemphisSymphony, #MilwaukeeSymphonyOrchestra, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #MusicDirector, #NahaGreenholtz, #NationalBalletofCanada, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #OmahaSymphony, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #ParisConservatory, #ParisFrance, #PeterRodgers, #PrinicpalPlayer, #ProgramNotes, #QuadCities, #QuadCitySymphonyOrchestra, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #Russianfolkmusic, #SeniorCitizen, #SergeiProkofiev, #SlowMovement, #St.PaulChamberOrchestra, #St.PaulMinnesota, #StateOfWisconsin, #TubaConcerto, #TubaMusic, #UnfinishedSymphony, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinistVirtuoso, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, 1920s, abroad, American, An American in Paris, anniversary, artist, Arts, atmosphere, audience, ballet, Beethoven, beloved, biographical, biography, blog, bold, Calgary, Canada, capital, castanets, Chamber music, chamber musician, Chicago, Chicago Composers Orchestra, city, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, clarinet, clarinet concerto, Classical music, Claude Debussy, Cleveland Orchestra, clinician, Composition, concertmaster, concerto, conductor, conservatory, conventional, David Oistrakh, Debussy, discount, discussion, domestic, dream, early, ebergy, Euphonium, examination, Facebook, final, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Folk music, France, Franz Schubert, funding, gem, George Gershwin, georgegershwin, graceful, Grant Park, Grant Park Music Festival, Gustav Mahler, highlight, impression, information, Iowa, Jacob Stockinger, JJ Koh, John DeMain, Joshua Biere, Joy, joyous, Kammer Mahler, Kenosha, Kenosha Symphony, law firm, life, London Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Magazine, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, Mahler, Mead Witter School of Music, melody, Memphis, Memphis Symphony, meter, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, movement, Music, Music director, Naha Greenholtz, National Ballet of Canada, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, noise, occasion, Omaha, Omaha Symphony, Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, originally, Overture Center, Overture Hall, Paris, performer, Peter Rodgers, pleasure, popular, portray, post, posting, Prelude, premiere, principal, program, program notes, purpose, Quad Cities, Quad City Symphony Orchestra, quintet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, recording, reed, rhapsody, Russian, score, section, security, senior, senior citizen, Sergei Prokofiev, sights, slow, soloist, Spain, sponsor, St. Paul, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, start, State of Wisconsin, street, students, studio, symhony, symphony, Teacher, test, ticket, tourism, tourist, tuba concerto, Unfinished Symphony, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Violin, Violin concerto, virtuosi, virtuosity, visitor, vituoso, winner, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, work, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: The talented new director of the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble sets the acclaimed and still impressive group on a new path with mixed results and hopeful expectations
6 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT-FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
The Isthmus Vocal Ensemble (IVE, below) is a well-established part of Madison’s musical summers. It offers dedicated choral singers a chance for intensive rehearsal preparation of highly accomplished choral music, and has delivered some truly memorable events over the years.
Of its concerts this year, I caught the second performance on Sunday afternoon. The choir itself doesn’t need to be shown off by now, but it was the choir’s chance to show off its new conductor in his first appearance here.
Michael McGaghie (below) is that new conductor. He is very plainly a brilliant choral technician who knows how to make a choir sound wonderful. (For more about McGaghie, who is the Director of Choral Activities at Macalester Collge in St. Paul and who leads the Harvard Glee Club Alumni Chorus in Cambridge, Mass., go to: https://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org/artisticdirector/)
That he did throughout the program. The IVE — 69 singers strong — certainly responded with an infectious enthusiasm that was also communicated to the large audience that filled the Christ Presbyterian Church. The concert was certainly a feast of great choral singing.
But what about the music?
To begin with, the actual music amounted to no more than about an hour’s worth. McGaghie planned the program as a progress of emotional moods, and he introduced each piece himself.
But what were the contents? McGaghie largely turned his back on the centuries of great choral music, the kind that his predecessor Scott MacPherson explored so ambitiously.
There were, at the beginning, two examples of that, motets by Thomas Tallis of the 16th century and Heinrich Schütz of the 17th century.
There was also an interesting nugget from the Russian composer and conductor Nikolai Golovanov (below), an early work of his (1917), setting the Lord’s Prayer (Otche naš) In a style departing from the previous two centuries of great Russian Orthodox choral writing.
Beyond those, however, the remaining nine items in the program — and the encore — were entirely by recent composers, mostly living and mostly American. These were his introductory calling cards, and so they invite scrutiny.
Ours is not an age of great, idiomatic choral writing, and composers go their own ways variously. Many of them rely upon a kind of chordal declamation with little sense of line or full-bodied texture.
Some pieces I don’t think I would want to hear again, and a couple I would not have wanted to hear even the first time.
An example of the latter is a piece about sirens and sailors by Chinese-American Chen Yi (below top), a collage of weird choral sounds but no musical content recognizable to any but Chinese ears.
Another was a loudly trashy adaptation of a Civil Rights “freedom song” by Jeffrey Douma (below bottom), plus the gesture to multicultural triviality in a Philippine folksong arrangement.
Three of the items came with piano accompaniment. In The Whole Sea in Motion by Dale Trumbore (below top) — which uses a text from Anne Brontë — the piano gave an underlying ripple to support declamatory, non-linear writing.
In Eternity by Donald Martino (below), the pleasantly lyrical choral writing really didn’t need the piano at all. And that part was much too prominent against Morten Lauridsen’s nicely polyphonic, and quite self-sufficient, choral texture in “Sure on This Shining Night” that treated James Agee’s famous poem. (You can hear the Lauridsen work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
There were certainly some among these contemporary items that I found quite enjoyable.
In Ophelia, a setting the account of that woman’s death in Hamlet, Jocelyn Hagen (below top) was overly concerned with story-telling, but the work certainly contained some lovely writing. O Radiant Dawn by Scottish master James MacMillan (below bottom) was a beautifully sonorous tribute to Catholic liturgical tradition.
What does this conducting debut point to for the future?
McGaghie can create the most splendid choral beauty — though often at the sacrifice of clear diction. On the basis of this program, it looks like he could now focus the IVE on lots of short contemporary pieces, rather than on the vast traditional literature.
We will have to see.
Tags: #Americancomposers, #AmericanRecordGuide, #AnneBrontë, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CambridgeMassachusetts, #ChenYi, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ChristPresbyterianChurch, #CivilRights, #DaleTrumbore, #DonaldMartino, #EmeritusProfessor, #GleeClub, #HarvardUniversity, #HeinrichSchütz, #IsthmusNewspaper, #IsthmusVocalEnsemble, #JamesAgee, #JamesMacMillan, #JeffreyDouma, #JesusChrist, #JocelynHagen, #JohnW.Barker, #Lord'sPrayer, #MacalesterCollege, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MedievalHistory, #MichaelMcGaghie, #MortenLauridsen, #MusicCritic, #NikolaiGolovanov, #PianoAccompaniment, #PolyphonicMusic, #RomanCatholicism, #RussianComposer, #ScottMacPherson, #St.PaulMinnesota, #ThomasTallis, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WilliamShakespeare, #WORT-FM89.9, 16th century, 17th century, accompaniment, alumni, American Record Guide, Anne Brontë, arrangement, Arts, Baroque, beauty, brilliant, Chen Yi, Chinese, Chinese-American, Choir, choral, choral music, chordal, Christ, Christ Presbyterian Church, church, civil rights, Classical music, classicalmusic, collage, composer, Concert, conductor, Dale Trumbore, declamation, director, Donald Martino, Early music, earlymusic, emeritus, emotion, emotional, enthusiasm, event, famous, feast, folk song, folksong, gesture, Glee Club, Hamlet, Harvard, Heinrich Schütz, History, infectious, Isthmus, Isthmus Vocal Ensemble, Jacob Stockinger, James Agee, James MacMillan, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jocelyn Hagen, John W. Barker, lecture, liturgical, Lord, Lord's Prayer, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Medieval, MEMF, memorable, Michael McGaghie, Morten Lauridsen, motet, multicultural, Music, Nikolai Golovanov, Ophelia, Philippine, photo, Piano, piece, plan, poem, Poetry, polyphonic, polyphony, prayer, Presbyterian, professor, program, recent, rehearsal, Roman Catholicism, Russian, Scotland, Scott MacPherson, Scottish, sea, Shakespeare, singer, Singing, St. Paul, summer, Thomas Tallis, tribute, triviality, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: The acclaimed Isthmus Vocal Ensemble performs old and new music this Friday night and Sunday afternoon when its new director also makes his debut
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Since it was founded in 2002, the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble (below) has been critically acclaimed for the concert it puts together each summer in just a couple of weeks or less. (You can hear a sample in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
This summer, the group will be under the baton of its new artistic director, Michael McGaghie (below), who will be making his performing debut with the group.
McGaghie directs choral activities at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and also conducts the Harvard Glee Club Alumni Chorus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The program this weekend ranges from the 16th century and early Baroque to the contemporary.
It will begin with works from established masters such as Thomas Tallis, Heinrich Schütz and the Soviet conductor-composer Nikolai Golovanov.
It will then explore works from contemporary composers such as Jocelyn Hagen, Morten Lauridsen and Dale Trumbore in a program called Horizons. (Sorry, The Ear has not received the titles of specific works on the program.)
Admission is $20 for adults, $10 for students. Tickets can be bought at the door or ordered at the links below.
Concert venues are:
This Friday, Aug. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, 110 North Gammon Road, on Madison’s west side. For tickets, go to:
https://isthmusvocalens.yapsody.com/event/index/282736/ive-2018-friday-concert
This Sunday, Aug. 5, at 3 p.m. in Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 East Gorham Street. For tickets, go to:
https://isthmusvocalens.yapsody.com/event/index/282791/ive-2018-sunday-concert
For more about the impressive background of the new director, go to: https://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org/artisticdirector/
For more about the past performances and the organization, including sound samples to listen to and how to join or support the group, go to: https://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org
Tags: #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #CambridgeMassachusetts, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ChristPresbyterianChurch, #ContemporaryComposers, #ContemporaryMusic, #DaleTrumbore, #GleeClub, #HarvardGleeClub, #HarvardGleeClubAlumniChorus, #HarvardUniversity, #HeinrichSchütz, #IsthmusVocalEnsemble, #JesusChrist, #JocelynHagen, #LivingComposer, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranChurchoftheLivingChrist, #MacalesterCollege, #MichaelMcGaghie, #MortenLauridsen, #NewMusic, #NikolaiGolovanov, #SoundSample, #Sovietcomposer, #SovietMusic, #Sovietmusicians, #St.PaulMinnesota, #ThomasTallis, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, admission, Artistic director, Arts, Audio, background, Baroque, Cambridge, choral music, chorus, Christ, Christ Presbyterian Church, Christian, church, Classical music, composer, conductor, Dale Trumbore, debut, Early music, earlymusic, established, Glee, Glee Club, Harvard University, Heinrich Schütz, horizon, Isthmus Vocal Ensemble, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus Christ, Jocelyn Hagen, Living composer, living composers, Madison, Massachusetts, Master, Michael McGaghie, Minnesota, Morten Lauridsen, Music, New Music, Nikolai Golovanov, performance, program, sample, Sound, Soviet, St. Paul, support, Thomas Tallis, ticket, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Choir will celebrate the Americas with two world premieres this Friday night
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Chamber Choir (below) will give two performances — one in Madison and one in Milwaukee — of the program “I Hear America Singing.”
The Madison program features two world premieres: Alleluia by Wayne Oquin and Shenandoah by Jae Lee. The Madison performance will also include a special guest ensemble: The University of Wisconsin–Whitewater Chamber Singers.
The local performance on this Friday, April 13, is at 7:30 p.m. in Grace Episcopal Church (below), 116 West Washington Ave., on the Capitol Square.
On next Saturday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m., the WCC will perform at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 914 East Knapp Street, Milwaukee.
The concert is a musical celebration of all the Americas — North and South — and all Americans.
Also, in recognition of Robert Gehrenbeck’s 10th anniversary as artistic director, the WCC presents the world premiere of Alleluia by New York composer and Juilliard School faculty member Wayne Oquin.
Inspired by Randall Thompson’s classic setting of the same one-word text, Oquin’s new version updates Thompson’s musical style in his own harmonic language, which has been compared to Morten Lauridsen’s.
An extremely versatile musician, Oquin (below) boasts recent commissions and performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony, the United States Air Force Band, the Houston Chamber Choir, and the King’s Singers.
At the Madison concert the WCC will be joined by the UW-Whitewater Chamber Singers performing their own world premiere, Shenandoah, by New York composer, organist and former jazz pianist Jae Lee (below).
The remainder of the program spans music of four centuries and multiple nationalities. Masterpieces of the U.S. choral repertoire — Samuel Barber’s Reincarnations and Charles Ives’s Psalm 67 — share billing with a diverse selection of works from throughout the hemisphere.
They include music by Mexican Baroque master Manuel de Samaya (below top); Argentinian tango composer Astor Piazzolla; African-American composers Bobby McFerrin, Hall Johnson, W. C. Handy, and Rosephanye Powell; and Native-American composer and longtime friend of the WCC, Brent Michael Davids (below bottom).
(You can hear a work that Robert Gehrenbeck commissioned for the UW-Whitewater Chamber Singers from Wayne Oquin in the YouTube video at the bottom, performed by the Houston Chamber Choir.)
The WCC’s award-winning organist, Mark Brampton Smith (below), will perform Samuel Barber’s virtuosic Wondrous Love: Variations On a Shape-Note Hymn on two amazing pipe organs: the 1987, 38-rank Casavant at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison, and the 2012, 51-rank Schantz at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee.
Founded in 1998, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir has established a reputation for excellence in the performance of oratorios by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Brahms; a cappella works from various centuries; and world premieres.
Artistic director Robert Gehrenbeck (below), who directs choral activities at the UW-Whitewater, has been hailed by critics for his vibrant and emotionally compelling interpretations of a wide variety of choral masterworks.
Advance tickets for the April 13 performance in Madison are available for $20 ($10 for students) from www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org, via Brown Paper Tickets, or at Orange Tree Imports and Willy Street Coop (all three locations).
The April 21 performance in Milwaukee will be presented for a free-will offering.
Tags: #ACappellaMusic, #AmericanMusic, #AstorPiazzolla, #BobbyMcFerrin, #CapitolSquare, #CharlesIves, #ChoralMusic, #DanishNationalSymphony, #EpiscopalChurch, #FacultyMember, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #HallJohnson, #HoustonChamberChoir, #JazzMusic, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JuilliardSchool, #ManueldeSumaya, #ManueldeZumaya, #Mexicancomposers, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #MortenLauridsen, #NewYorkCity, #NorthAmerica, #OrangeTreeImports, #OrganMusic, #PhiladelphiaOrchestra, #PianoMusic, #RandallThompson, #RosephaynePowell, #SamuelBarber, #SouthAmerica, #TheKing'sSingers, #UnitedStates, #UnitedStatesAirForce, #UnitedStatesAirForceBand, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityofWisconsin-Whitewater, #UW-WhitewaterChamberSingers, #W.C.Handy, #WayneOquin, #WillyStreetCo-op, #WillyStreetCoop, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, a cappella, African American, alleluia, Americans, Argentina, Arts, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, Barber, Baroque, Bobby McFerrin, Brahms, Brent Michael Davids, Capitol Square, choral music, classic, Classical music, composer, Concert, Denmark, Episcopal, faculty, guest, Hall Johnson, Handel, harmonic language, harmony, Jacob Stockinger, Jae Lee, Jazz, Juilliard, Lauridsen, Madison, Mexico, Milwaukee, Mozart, Music, Native American, New York City, organ, performance, Pianist, Piano, program, Randall Thompson, reincarnation, Shenandoah, singer, Singing, song, special, St. Paul, style, tango, The King's Singers, United States, United States Air Force, United States Air Force Band, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Whitewater, vocal music, Wisconsin, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: Acclaimed a cappella vocal ensemble Cantus performs a world premiere in Edgerton this Saturday night
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
“Cantus: Inspiring Through Song“ will perform in concert this coming Saturday night, March 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Edgerton Performing Arts Center, 200 Elm High Drive in Edgerton, Wisconsin.
In its 2017-18 touring program “Discovery of Sight,” the a cappella ensemble Cantus (below) explores the essence of light and vision, reveling in the mystery, science and poetry of what it means to truly “see” with music.
The program features works by Richard Strauss, Franz Schubert, Eric Whitacre (below top) and Einojuhani Rautavaara (below middle, in a photo by Getty Images) alongside a world premiere by Gabriel Kahane (below bottom).
Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased online at www.edgertonpac.com or by phone at (608) 561-6093.
Praised as “engaging” by the New Yorker magazine, the men’s vocal ensemble Cantus is widely known for its trademark warmth and blending, and for its innovative programming and involving performances of music ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century.
The Washington Post has hailed the Cantus sound as having both “exalting finesse” and “expressive power,” and refers to the “spontaneous grace” of its music making.
As one of the nation’s few full-time vocal ensembles, Cantus has grown in prominence with its distinctive approach to creating music. Working without a conductor, the members of Cantus rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing to the entirety of the artistic process.
Cantus performs more than 60 concerts each year both in national and international touring, and in its home of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Cantus has performed at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, UCLA, San Francisco Performances, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.
You can hear Cantus perform a Tiny Desk Concert for National Public Radio (NPR) in the YouTube video at the bottom. The Ear is especially fond of the way they sing “Wanting Memories.”
For more information about Cantus, go to the ensemble’s website: www.cantussings.org
The performance is funded by the William and Joyce Wartmann Endowment for the Performing Arts.
Tags: #21stCentury, #ACappellaMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #EdgertonPerformingArtsCenter, #EinojuhariRautavaara, #EricWhitacre, #FranzSchubert, #GabrielKahane, #KennedyCenter, #LincolnCenter, #NationalPublicRadio, #RichardStrauss, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkerMagazine, #TheWashingtonPost, #TinyDeskConcert, #VocalMusic, #WorldPremiere, 21st century, a cappella, Arts, Atlanta, blending, Cantus, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, conductor, discovery, Edgerton, Einojuhani Rautavaara, endowment, ensemble, Eric Whitacre, essence, finesse, Franz Schubert, fund, Gabriel Kahane, Getty Images, grace, innovative, international, Jacob Stockinger, light, men, Minneapolis, Music, mystery, national, NPR, perform, performance, Poetry, power, program, Renaissance, Richard Strauss, San Francisco, science, see, sight, singer, Singing, song, Sound, St. Paul, ticket, tour, UCLA, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vail, vision, vocal, vocal music, warmth, web site, Website, Wisconsin, worked premiere, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: A solo marimba concert this Friday night features Bach transcriptions and holiday favorites
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Marimbist Matthew Coley (below), who plays in the Madison-based percussion group Clocks in Motion, will give a solo recital this Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The program features transcriptions of Preludes and Fugue Nos. 1-6 of Book II of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” by Johann Sebastian Bach. Coley plans on eventually performing all of Book II.
Holiday music on the concert will include “Sleigh Ride,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Frosty the Snowman” and more.
Admission is free with a suggested donation of $15.
For more information about Matthew Coley, go to the website: www.hearMatthewColey.com
Coley regularly tours the nation and abroad, offering solo concerts and master classes. He has performed in more than 35 states in the U.S. and in 10 countries. (You can hear Coley performing his own composition “Circularity” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
He is the founding executive director of Heartland Marimba with five affiliate initiatives under the organization: the Heartland Marimba Quartet, HMFestival, HMEnsemble, HMPublications, and SoundWAYS.
This year’s holiday tour will also take Matthew to Chicago; Cedar Falls, Iowa; Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Quincy, Ill.; St Paul, Minn.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Tags: admission, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Bell, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Chamber music, Chicago, Christmas and holiday season, class, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, composer, donation, Early music, ensemble, festival, First Unitarian Society of Madison, free, Frosty the Snowman, fugue, group, Heartland Marimba, Holiday, ILLINOIS, information, Iowa, Jacob Stockinger, jingle, Jingle Bell Rock, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, marimba, master class, Matthew Coley, Minnesota, Music, percussion, Prelude, program, publication, Quartet, recital, Rock, sleigh, Sleigh Ride, snowman, solo, St. Paul, The Well-Tempered Clavier, tour, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Website
Classical music: Globe-trotting conductor Edo de Waart bids farewell to Madison and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra this Sunday afternoon at the Wisconsin Union Theater with music by Mozart, Bloch and Elgar
3 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Music director and conductor Edo de Waart is coming to the end of his widely praised eight-year tenure at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, after which he will become a conductor laureate of the MSO.
The busy and energetic 75-year-old de Waart (below, in a photo by Jesse Willems) started his career as a assistant principal oboist of the Concertgebouw and rose to become an acclaimed symphony and opera conductor. Currently, he is also the music director of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In the past, he held major posts in Hong Kong, San Francisco, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, New York, Houston, Sydney, Rotterdam and Amsterdam among many others.
For more on de Waart, go to his Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_de_Waart
Unless they go to Milwaukee on the following weekend — Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 26-28 — to hear de Waart conduct Gustav Mahler’s mammoth Symphony No. 3 as his final farewell, listeners in the Madison area will likely have their last chance to hear the formidable de Waart and the accomplished Milwaukee players (below, with concertmaster Frank Almond on the left) this coming Sunday afternoon.
At 2:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall at the Wisconsin Union Theater, de Waart and the MSO will perform the Overture to the opera “Don Giovanni,” K. 527, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Ernest Bloch’s “Schlomo: A Hebraic Rhapsody” with MSO principal cellist Susan Babini (below); and Sir Edward Elgar’s Symphony No. 1, Op. 55.
There will also be a free pre-concert lecture at 1:30 p.m. by Randal Swiggum.
Tickets run from $15 to $49. For more information, including ticket prices and purchasing outlets, audiovisual links and links to reviews and background stories, go to:
https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/milwaukee-symphony-orchestra/
The Ear has always been impressed not only with the quality of de Waart’s conducting, but also with his choice of soloists and his creative approach to programming. He has fond memories of other performances in Madison by the MSO, which used to tour here regularly.
The distinguished de Waart, a native of the Netherlands, has enjoyed critical acclaim in his international career across Europe, Asia and North America. For a while, this acclaimed world-class musician who has made so many award-winning recordings and performed so many guest stints around the world, was even a neighbor who lived in Middleton, a suburb of Madison, where his wife is from.
Plus, de Waart has a fine philosophy of making music and leading an orchestra, as you can hear in the YouTube video below that was made when he first took over the reins of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra:
Tags: Amsterdam, Arts, Asia, Australia, Beethoven, Bloch, Cello, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, Concert, concerto, conductor, director, Edo de Waart, Elgar, Europe, farewell, globe, globe-trotting, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Houston, Houston Grand Opera, Jacob Stockinger, lecture, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mahler, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis, Mozart, Music, Netherlands, New York, New Zealand, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Oboe, opera, Orchestra, phiolosphy, principal, program, programming, Rotterdam, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Opera, Schlomo, soloist, soloists, St. Paul, Susan Babini, Sydney, symphony, tour, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, wife, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, world-class, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 